The taxation system in Anambra State under Governor Chukwuma Soludo has drawn criticism for being "heavy and unbearable." In a statement made public on Sunday, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) made this claim.
Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, the national coordinator of HURIWA, asserted in the statement that, rather than promoting social development and enhancing public welfare, Soludo's high taxation regime is pushing more residents of the South-East state into poverty.
Residents of Anambra State have received a warning from a group that the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria should give up any utopian ideals that are too idealistic to be realistic.
“Since his inauguration, Soludo has introduced various kinds of taxes on the poor in Anambra. Heavy taxes are imposed on market men and women, bus drivers, tricycle operators, wheelbarrow pushers, shop owners and hawkers, and even mourners, making the people of the state lament endlessly under his harsh regime,” the group stated.
According to the report, the governor expressed disappointment that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has not sent funds into the Federation Account since February, which has significantly affected most state governments’ budgetary flexibility.
According to the report, he subsequently ordered various groups to make monthly payments totalling N17,500, including taxi drivers, shuttle bus drivers, commercial motorbike operators, and others. The monthly payment for tricycle drivers was N15,000.
According to Onwubiko of HURIWA, “The approach of Governor Soludo is most unfortunate because he has largely targeted the poor with his regime of unbearable taxation instead of the rich who have perfected the art and act of evading taxes in hundreds of millions of naira. The governor’s heavy taxation of the poor is akin to muzzling the ox when it is treading out the grain, which is unrealistic and unnatural. Now some tricycle operators have reportedly become ‘part-time’ armed robbers robbing some unsuspecting members of the public in their warped attempt to remain in business by meeting up the unattainable heavy taxes they pay to Governor Soludo’s obnoxious tax collectors.”